Take-up mechanism for winding-machines.



PATBNTED SEPT. 19, 1905.

APPLIUATION FILED MALES, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR WINDING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1905.

Application filed March 29,1904. Serial No. 200,616.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD C. BAILEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Take-Up Mechanism for WVinding-lVIachines, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention consists in a novel combination of parts comprising a take-u p mechanism especially designed in the present instance to be employed in connection with twine-making machines, one object of the same being to provide asimple and inexpensive device for maintaining a constant tension upon the twine as it is being wound upon spools and which shall automatically operate to take up any are supported small shafts a It is further desired to provide a simple and inexpensive take-up mechanism from which it shall be possible to quickly and conveniently detach or remove a spool of twine without stopping or otherwise interfering with the operation of the machine.

These objects I attain as hereinafter set forth, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a twine-making machine, showing my improved take-up mechanism as applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a front view, on an enlarged scale, showing the various parts included in my invention. Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly in section, of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4L is a view illustrating a modified form of driving mechanism.

In the above drawings, A is a portion of the framework of the machine to which my improved mechanism is attached, this consisting in the present instance of vertical standards a, carrying a number of bearings a, in which Each of these shafts has keyed to it a gear-wheel a, and it will be seen that between these gears and meshing with them are a second set of gears at These latter are carried upon studs fixed to projecting brackets (0 rigidly attached to one of the standards a. By this means itwill be understood that if one of the gears a as, for example, the ]owermost be driven from any source of power all of the gears of the entire series will be operated therefrom.

From Fig. 3 it will be seen that each one of the studs (0, upon which the gears o are carried, projects beyond the face of thegear, so

as to form a bearing for a spool B, and the opposite end of said spool is carried by a conical piece 5 upon a stud projecting from a pivoted bar 6. These bars 6 are pivotally connected at b to a cross-piece 6 as shown in Fig. 3, and being extended beyond the conical piece 6 are provided with handles 6 In order to retain the bars I) in a horizontal position even when they are supporting a spool, I provide a series of cross-pieces 6*,

extending between the standards (0, upon which said bars are respectively free to slide in horizontal planes. Said bars are continually drawn toward the brackets a by means of a spring 6 connected at one end to said bracket and at its other end held to the bar 6 by means of a screw 6 passing through said bar. In order to limit the movement of this bar 5, I provide a stop 6 consisting of a rod held to the bracket (0 and projecting toward the said bar, so as to engage the same if it is pulled by the spring beyond a certain point. If now a spool having the customary axial recesses in its end faces be made to engage the stud (o of one of the gear-wheels a by moving the handle 5 in a direction away from said gear, it is possible to place the spool in such position that the conical piece 5 on said bar 6 may be entered in the recess in the second face of said spool.

When the train of gears is made to operate, the spool B will be turned, owing to the fact that one of its end faces bears frictionally against the face of the gear a, being held thereto by the spring 6 Under ordinary operating conditions the said gear is turned at a speed higher than that at which the spool is allowed to turn under the action of the supply of twine being wound upon it, so that a constant tension is exerted upon said twine,

which may be varied by altering the adjusts ment of the screw 6 by means of its winged head 6 and thus varying the tension of the spring 5 If for any reason the twine is delivered at a higher rate than usual, the friction between the face of the spool and the face of the gear causes said spool to be temporarily turned at an increased speed, so that the excess amount of twine isquickly taken up with but little, if any, variation in the tension thereon.

When it is desired to remove a spool from the machine, the bar 6 is moved in a horizontal plane away from the gear a against the tension of the spring a, so that said spool may be taken from its bearings without in any way interfering with the operation of the machine.

If the bar 6' should be released without a spool being placed in position, it will be engaged by the stop 6 which will retain it in a position such that it will not interfere with the operation of the rest of the machine, but will be so held as to permit of another spool being quickly put in place.

Instead of employing the meshing gears a and (i to drive the spools, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, I may use frictional driving means, either a cord, rope, or belt 0, as indicated in Fig. 4, which drives the pulleys c in operative engagement with the spools B and also passes around the intermediate pulleys 0 carried by the shafts 0 which are mounted in suitable bearings in the same manner as in the structure shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The rope, cord, or belt may be driven from any suitable source of power and returns over the guide-pulleys c and 0*. In all other respects the operation of the structure shown in Fig. 4 is precisely the same as that illustrated in the other views.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of a frame having a projecting bracket, a driving-wheel supported thereon and provided with a bearing-stud, a bar pivoted to the frame and also having a bearingstud, means including a tensionspring, connected at one end to the bar and also to the bracket, for forcing one end of a spool on the bearing-studs against the face of the driving-wheel, said spring having at one end means for varying its tension, with a stop carried by the bracket so as to engage the bar only when the distance between the two bearing-studs is less than the length of the spool, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a frame, a series of and means for yieldingly pressing one end of each spool against its particular wheel, substantially as described.

3. The combination of.a frame, a series of intermeshing gearing-wheels carried thereby, with a series of bars pivoted to the frame so as to be movable in substantially parallel planes, a supporting-guide for each bar, with means for confining spools respectively between each bar and one of the gear-wheels so that they are free to turn under the action of said wheels, and means for yieldingly pressing one end of each spool against its particular wheel, substantially as described.

I. The combination of a frame provided with a bearing-stud and a driving-wheel, a bar pivoted to the frame and also having a bearing-stud in line with the stud on the frame, means for normally retaining a spool in position upon said two studs and in engagement with the driving-wheel, said bar extending in a substantially horizontal line and having means carried by the frame whereby it is slidably supported at a point some distance from and independently of its pivot, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HOWARD (J. BAILEY.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM E. BRADLEY, Jos. H. KLEIN. 

